Safe Surrender saves newborns from being abandoned
Riverside County Social Services is hoping to raise awareness to save infants’ lives at risk of being abandoned.
The Safe Surrender Law allows a parent or person with lawful custody to safely surrender a baby within 72 hours of the child’s birth, without fear of prosecution. The law has been on the books for 15 years. The statistics prove that it’s working by saving children and sending them to loving homes.
Last week, Subway employees in West Covina found a crying baby abandoned in a toilet, left for dead by a woman believed to be homeless and addicted to drugs. Police say the baby is expected to survive.
With California’s Safe Surrender Laws in place the woman could have left the baby at a fire station, hospital or police station.
That’s what happened with little baby Alyssa, she was safely surrendered at a hospital in Murrieta the day she was born 8 months ago. The Marcroft family of Calimesa already has three young boys, but they wanted a girl and decided to adopt through social services. That day Jenna Marcroft got the call she had been waiting for.
“We called he back and she said ‘Mr. and Mrs. Marcroft, there is a little baby girl that was born this morning, she was 6 pounds 2 ounces, she is a safe surrender little girl, would you like to come meet her?’ And we said yes we would love to come meet her,” said Jenna Marcroft with Alyssa sitting on her lap in their living room.
Now little Alyssa has completed their family. In 2014, ten babies were surrendered in Riverside County with 8 newborns in 2015. Babies need to be surrendered with 72 hours of being born.
Child safety experts say a parent can choose to be anonymous when using the safe surrender program.
“We initially put an armband on the baby with some information, now the parent doesn’t have to give us any information, but we like to give them the choice,” said Lucas Spelman, public information officer with CAL Fire. “If they do give us information, within 14 days they can come back, we give them a tag that matches the armband on the baby so in case they do change their mind they are able to come back and get their child,” said Spelman.
We asked Jenna Marcroft is she had any advice for a pregnant woman who doesn’t want to keep the child.
“To not be scared because they won’t judge the mother, they will be so thankful to her for looking out for what’s best for the baby,” said Marcroft.
Since the Safe Surrender Law was penned in 2001, the state has seen an 80 percent drop in children being abandoned.
From 2001 to 2014, 685 newborns have been surrendered in California, and 73 newborns were surrendered in 2014 alone.
February is Safe Surrender Awareness month.
